A New Chapter Doctor Who Fanfic
by Sexyspacearchaeologist
Summary: This is my first ever fan fic! Wooo! This story features Aislinn, a 16 year old OC of mine, and the 11th Doctor, and you can guess that they go on a few adventures... Enjoy, and please review!
1. Prologue

A New Chapter. - Doctor Who Fanfiction.

**Author's note - Hi there! This is my first ever fan fiction, so please review and be as harsh as you like ;)**

**This story mainly features the 11th Doctor, and an OC of mine called Aislinn. **

**Enjoy, and please review!**

Prologue

"_Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."_

-Mark Twain.

His books are okay, not particularly to my taste, but then not every book in the world will be. Just most.

The library must be my favourite place in the world to go and think, except for maybe the woods, but either is fine. I come here to the library almost every day - I never take any books out because I've always finished them by closing time. I know 'normal' people may think I'm weird, being this introverted and not talking to anyone, but I don't care.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I haven't said a single word to another human being for 5 years.


	2. Day One

Day One

It was a rainy Tuesday when my life changed forever.

A quiet 16 year old girl reading in the library on a rainy afternoon. Not an unusual sight, but somehow I attracted attention to myself.

I was reading Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire - my favourite book in the entire world; I must have read it at least 15 times. I have no idea why it's not well known, it is truly amazing fiction.

"Everything in the room screamed that I didn't belong"

The exact words my eyes were viewing.

I looked up to try and locate the owner of the words, but saw no one. I frowned but went back to my book; I assumed I had misheard something.

But then, ten minutes later, I again heard someone say the exact words I was reading.

"Why do you seem so startled by your own voice?"

I looked up suddenly to see a man in his 20's sitting opposite me, with tears rolling down his cheeks, staring at me.

My own voice? What did he mean? I hadn't said those words.

By I had finished asking a million questions in my head the man was looking at me with confusion.

"Are you alright?"  
I still didn't answer the stranger.

He gave up his inquiry and went back to his book. Of Mice and Men. A classic.

Without looking up from his book, he said:

"Aislinn. Gaelic. Means beautiful girl in peril. Fitting."

Fitting? Never mind that, how on Earth does this complete stranger know my name?

The man gave me a wink, got up and walked into the Fantasy aisle. Of course, I followed him. How could I not?

I found him round the corner pawing at a battered copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

"You're going to ask who I am. But I can't tell you that yet. I was able to get you to follow me. You trusted a stranger enough to lead you down a dark corridor. Why?

Why would you just do that? Because I knew your name. You see, names are important. We automatically trust someone who knows our name, assume you know them from somewhere, when in reality they might have just look you up. You see, names are dangerous things. We shouldn't throw them around willy nilly."

And suddenly, he was handing me my library card with the picture of me with an awful haircut. I would bet my life savings that the card had been zipped up in my jacket pocket not half an hour earlier.

"You want to be a little more careful Aislinn."

And turned back to Grimm with a smirk.

And then, I found myself getting angry. Who does this man think he is? So I just looked over his shoulder at a page in his book and whispered the first words I had said in years.

"Fairy tales are stupid."

He seemed to be shocked at my murmur, as if he knew how much of an effort it was to get those four words out. He slowly gave a shrug, put his book on the shelf and replied.

"Why do you think that?"

I gaped at him. I didn't know how to reply. I'd seen thousands of words on paper in front of me, and yet forming them seemed so difficult. And somehow this man, this odd, mysterious stranger had managed to get me to speak, where hundreds of psychologists had failed, and he managed it in 5 minutes. The thought of what this man had achieved sent me curling back into my silent protective shell.

But his slightly raised eyebrow of anticipation gave me a burst of confidence.

"Don't get me wrong, I like them as much as the next person - I love them."

"Then why are they stupid?"

"They have no use in real life. Non-fantasy stories have problems and characters that relate to real life. There are not dragons or wizards in real life."

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

"How poetic of you."

"Poetry's good."

"Have you beaten a dragon yourself?"

"A few in my time. Misunderstood creatures - just greedy, not mean."

By now we were standing a few centimetres away from each other. That smug look on his face was just boiling my insides.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

He winked at me and said,

"You don't."

And then I knew how to get that smug smile off his face.

"Why were you crying before?"

And then I realised I had said something wrong. A playful argument is fine, but obviously I had sprinkled salt into a fresh wound. He mirrored my frown of annoyance from earlier on and went to sit down in a plush, well sat on chair in the corner of the aisle.

"Maybe when I know you a little better I might tell you."

I was confused. How could one go from joyful and smug, to sad in the space of a second?

"You don't know me at all."

He shot a half smile at me and said,

"I know you perfectly well. I know everything I need to know about you, Aislinn."

And we're back to the mystery and rudeness.

"If you know me so well, what's my last name?"

He pondered this for a second, before asking,

"I don't know - what is it?"

It's my turn to be smug. I gave him a wink, as if to say _I'm not telling you_

"Maybe when I know you a little better I might tell you."

He noticed I had turned his words on him, tilted his head to one side and jumped up from his chair, almost startling me.

"Well we'll have to fix that won't we?"

He held out his hand, motioning for me to shake it.

I wasn't giving in this easily. I looked down at the outstretched had, and back up to meet his eyes. This wasn't enough.

With a sigh he gave me what I was looking for.

"I'm the Doctor." He said with a smile.

"Just 'The Doctor'?"

"Yes."

I supposed this was all I was going to get for now. A little at a time.

So with a giant beam I took his hand and plainly said,

"Aislinn. Just 'Aislinn'."

And then proceeded to walk out of the library. I turned back once and saw that the 'Doctor' had disappeared.

_Just The Doctor. _

Well I was hardly going to settle for that was I?


	3. Day Two

Day Two

The next day I was adamant that I was going to meet the 'Doctor' again. There was no way he could get away with all that stuff, saying I was in _peril_ for Christ's sake, and not expect an interrogation at some point.

I skipped school so that I could have the entire day to wait for him - it's not as if I could learn anything from two weeks of no work as we had finished our exams.

I had just settled into my book (as well as the comfy chair that he had spoken to me from the day before), when I heard this:

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."

I turned around, and just as I thought, it was the 'Doctor'.

"Would you please stop reading over my shoulder? Not only is it annoying, it's slightly creepy, seeing as I don't know you."

He sighed, sat down on the arm of the chair, and grinned,

"I think you know me very well now - we're practically best friends!"

I was shocked by his response.

"We've only known each other for, what? Ten minutes? Besides the fact that I don't have 'friends', I don't even know your name. You said that once you knew me well enough you would tell me your name. If we're 'best friends' then why haven't you told me it?"

He ignored what I had said completely, looked deep into my eyes with confusion, and asked, almost to himself,

"Why did you choose to speak to me and not anyone else?"

I was the confused one now.

"What? Look, Doctor, whoever you are I -"

He cut me off.

"You hadn't said a single word to a single creature in almost 5 years. Why did you speak to me?"

Ok, now I was scared. I whispered back,

"How do you know that?"

He cheekily smiled at me,

"I told you I knew you well. I mean, I had never spoken to you, and I knew your name. That's got to be a start hasn't it?"

"Yes, because you pick-pocketed my library card from me when I was choosing a book. That librarian by the front desk has a name tag on her. I know her name, yet know absolutely nothing about her."

"That's hardly the same situation."

"If it isn't, then tell me how you know me so well?"

He didn't answer. I frowned.

"Now you're just being rude. You can't just swan up to someone -"

"Yes I can."

"-and pretend to know them - that sort of thing gets you arrested."

He winked and said,

"Well it's never done me any harm."

I let out an exasperated breath. I was obviously getting nowhere. Then, I remembered something he had said the day before.

"Why did you say the meaning of my name was 'fitting'?"

"The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.

But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now

mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater."

I looked down at my book and realised he was doing it again.

"Stop reading my book aloud! But in all seriousness, Doctor; 'Beautiful girl in peril. Fitting'. That's just not funny. Was it supposed to be a joke? Because that's really not funny. Am I going to die-"

Suddenly my questions were halted by two big hands grabbing the sides of my face and pulling my head round until we were eye to eye.

"Ssshhh. Nothing's wrong." He paused for a second, then looked down at his feet and lowered his voice.

"Look, I'm sorry. I should never have spoken to you. It was all a big mistake."

And with that he turned and walked away and out of the aisle.

I ran after him, but he had disappeared.

"Doctor! Wait!"

I shouted, to no prevail except an angry librarian.

After a stern telling off from a librarian who said however lovely it was to hear my pretty voice for the first time, it was not good to hear it shouting through the aisles, I went searching for the Doctor.

I wound through the dark and dusty aisles lined with hundreds of bookshelves, but I found him nowhere. It was almost like he had disintegrated. I gave up my wild goose chase and went to leave the library, feeling distraught.

I had blown my chance to get to know this odd man - I had gone too far.

I was sad - I still had so many questions to ask about him from the day before, but I supposed I never would be able to now.

The past couple of days had been the most exciting and best days I had had in a very long time - ten minutes talking to a complete stranger. That kind of says a lot about the past five years of my life, if I get excited by a bit of chit chat.

But, to be fair, I haven't had any 'chit chat' for ages.

I guess I never will again.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

I had just placed my foot outside of the library, about to set off home, and must have jumped about ten feet in the air from fright.

I don't think I really need to write down who said those words. You can guess.

"Oh gosh, you gave me a heart attack!"

Suddenly he started to show his 'Doctor' skills, prodding me all over, checking the temperature on my forehead etc, while asking 'Are you alright?' at least five hundred times. I had to bat him away, all the while laughing my head off.

"Doctor… DOCTOR! I'm fine! It's a figure of speech! And stop quoting books to me!"

He went bright lobster red and looked pretty embarrassed.

"Oh… right…. Um….ahem…. so, what were you doing?"

I gave a playful frown.

"Well I was heading home after spending an hour searching for you after you ran off, nowhere to be seen…."

"Oh sorry….."

"….When I was given the fright of my life!"

He grinned.

"Fright of your life? You obviously haven't seen much in your life."

I raised my eyebrows.

"As a matter of fact I haven't."

And with that he beamed, grabbed my hand and dragged me into a run.

"We'll have to fix that then won't we?" he shouted through the air rushing past our bodies.

"Doctor! Doctor, stop!"

I yanked on his hand and pulled up to a stop. I was breathless.

"Doctor. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I have to go home now. I'm sorry. I'll see you at the library tomorrow yeah?"

I could see his face drop. He looked as if he had just been silently forced to watch 15 puppies drowning.

"Doctor?"

He paused for a few more seconds, hands in pockets, shuffling his feet.

"Umm…. Right….. can I come?"

I wasn't sure what he meant.

"Come? Back to my house? What, now?"

"Uhh yeah…. It's getting late - it's not safe for you to be out on your own."

"It's 10 o'clock in the morning, but yeah, you can walk home with me if you want….."

This was getting odd. I keep forgetting that I have only known this man for 24 hours at that. Twenty minutes more like.

As soon as I had finished my sentence, he flexed his arms, linked his with mine and said

"Which way?"

We discussed books all the way back to my house in the woods. New books, classic books, and sometimes he would talk about books that hadn't even come out yet, or didn't exist. Odd. But, it was nice to finally be able to talk to someone - to finally release all the thoughts that have been swimming around in my head for years. I felt like a giant bubble that had been surrounding my life had been popped, and I could finally walk around the outside world. I was happy for once.

Until we reached my front door.

Just before I walked up the wooden steps towards the porch, the Doctor stopped and dropped his hand from mine. I carried on walking, assuming he had stopped to tie his shoe or something, but as my hand reached to put the key into the lock he said from behind me,

"Don't open that door."

I turned around, and saw that all the happiness and jolliness that had been present on his face mere seconds ago had gone. I laughed off his stupidity and continued to turn the key.

"Aislinn. I said do not open that door."

I was angry now. I put my hands on my hips and whirled round to face him, a stormy expression on my face.

"Why ever not?"

He slowly walked up to where I was standing, took the unturned key out of the lock and suddenly threw it into the bushes at the side of the garden.

"Hey! My keys!"

He faced me, put his hands on my shoulders and looked me right in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but you can't go into your house again. There's something in there. It's not safe."

That made me even angrier.

"Not safe? It's my bloody house, and I'll go in there if I want to!"

He continued to stare me out.

"Trust me," he said.

"Trust you? I barely know you. First you terrorise me at the library, and now you have the audacity to tell me I can't go into my own home?"

He paused for a second before answering,

"Yes."

Suddenly he dropped his arms from mine, and stood facing the door behind me, with a look of terror. I ignored him.

"Fine. What's so dangerous inside my completely empty home?" I said in a mocking tone.

He simply pointed at the door and said,

"See for yourself."

I slowly turned around, a little frightened now, and peered through the frosted glass that was my front door.

I looked closer, squinting to see what it was.

I could just barely make out a shadowy form at the end of the corridor.

I still couldn't make it out. I turned back to the Doctor and said with a 'huh',

"It's nothing, I don't know what you're fussing about. It's probably just one of the visitor cats sitting on the window it's fine-"

But as I turned back to my door, I could clearly see what was a small blob of darkness, speeding towards the door my nose was centimetres from touching.

Just as the creature was about a metre from bursting through the glass, and taking me with it, the Doctor grabbed my hand and screamed,

"RUN!"


	4. Day Two Continued

We ran.  
Well, he ran - I stumbled and tripped over the exposed tree roots and branches.  
We must have been running at full speed for about 5 minutes, deep into the woods, before I yanked the Doctor to a stop.

"Doctor! Stop!"  
I fell to the ground, panting and clutching my chest.

"Are you alright? Aislinn?"  
He looked worried. I slowly got back up and waved him away.

"Yep - yes. I'm fine. Fine! I'm just, not used to, well, running..."

There was a sparkle in his eyes as he said,

"You get used to it. C'mon!"  
He started to hike up a small hill, further into the forest.  
I didn't move.

"Where are you going? I can't just leave!"  
He looked confused.

"Works for me. And you saw that thing. You can't go back. S'too dangerous."  
I was shocked.

"Exactly! Later on today my family will go home - now if that thing is as dangerous as you say it is then there is no chance in hell that I'm letting them get in danger."

"Y-your family?"  
I raised my arms in exasperation.

"Yes! Or is that concept too complicated for you? I have a Mum, a Dad and a Brother who I love and I am not leaving them behind! Ever!"

He walked up and put his hands on my shoulders protectively. I shrugged him off.

"You have to. I'm sorry, but you must. I know how you feel but you just can't. If you go back there, you. will. die. It won't go for your parents on their own but it will go for you. If you care about your family, if you want to keep them safe then you will leave them, and never go back to that house. I'm sorry but it's the only thing you can do. Please."  
I looked into his eyes; they were pleading with mine. He held out a hand towards me.  
I swallowed, took his hand and said,

"Okay."

He smiled and started to lead me up the hill.

"This way."

_

We walked in silence for 45 minutes, winding through the trees. It was around midday now so the heat was slowing me down. I hoped he reached our destination soon.

"Is there any point in asking where we're going?" I asked him finally.

"It's not too far now. I parked it just down this path."

"Parked what?"

He smiled.

"My ship."

"Your sh-" I frowned, "It's useless me asking you anything. You never answer any questions."

"Aw! Have I really made that bad an impression?"  
I pouted at him.

"Well I'll just have to impress you" he said with a wink.

And then we stopped walking.  
I looked up, and about 15 feet in from of me there was a 1960's police box, nestled up next to a tree. I looked back at the Doctor, unsure what I was supposed to be looking at, besides an out-of-place phone box.

"That's my ship."

"That's your ship? What sort of ship? We are nowhere near the sea and it's hardly Apollo 11 either." I said with a snort.

"Oi! She's bigger than you'd think! It's a spaceship. Top of the range actually."

"Right. Well I'm not getting in that. It's tiny. You think I'm going to hide out in a tiny wooden box for the rest of my life? Actually - what are you expecting me to do? You've dragged me away from my parents saying I will never see them again, and if that will really keep them alive then I will. Yes they aren't my real parents, but I still love them, and my brother too. I would do anything to keep them safe. Now stop faffing around and tell me what I need to do."

He looked at me quizzically.

"They aren't your real family?"

I ignored him and gritted my teeth.

"Doctor. What. do. you. want. me. to. do?"

"Come travelling with me. That box over there isn't just a wooden box. It's a time machine. You can do anything you want. Think of it as an apology."

"Why me?"

"What happened to your parents?"

"We should get going then. Things to see."

"Now who's not answering questions."  
I harrumphed and stomped off to the box.

"Well let's see it then!" I tried the door, "Have you got the key?"

He walked up and joined me, took a golden key out of his jacket pocket and unlocked it.

He turned and grinned at me.

"What is it?"

He pushed open the door and said,

"See for yourself."

As golden light overwhelmed me I stepped in to take in the majestic structure inside the tiny box.

"It-it-i..."

"Bigger on the inside? Another dimension? I've heard them all. At least you're not in a nightie."

"What?"

"Nothing... So? What do you think?"

"Umm... I didn't pack anything. Everything I own is at home - all my clothes and books!"

He ran up the steps inside up to the giant glass floor with a control centre in the middle, and clapped his hands together before throwing them wide.

"Don't worry! Everything you could ever need is here in the TARDIS! A massive wardrobe filled with clothes from every century, and a library that would make even you proud. Your bedroom will be up those stairs, and the 16th door on the right. You can go and settle in if you want."

I was still in shock over the size of the 'TARDIS'. I did as I was told and found my bedroom. It was filled with everything I would need, toiletries and all, and the furniture seemed to be exactly what I would pick. I fell back onto the plush blue blanket on the bed and lay there thinking.

What was I doing? I had only met the Doctor yesterday and already I was moving in with him. I barely knew him, but for some reason my gut feeling told me to trust him. I got up off my new bed and went over to the dresser. I noticed my wash bag was already here. Odd. I looked into the mirror. My face was splattered with mud from the running. I sighed and looked at myself. Who was I? Why did this creature want me? I was just... normal. I studied my features.

Long, wide nose, green eyes, square chin, and long, dark blonde, curly hair that I could only imagine where I had inherited it from. A face I had seen every day. But as I looked into my eyes I saw a haunted look that I had never seen before.  
There was a knock at the door. The Doctor came in.

"Hey. Aislinn. I was wondering if you'd like a chat - if you had any questions to ask me?"

He sat down on the end of my bed.

"Umm... yeah... okay."

I went to join him.

"Okay. I'll start with an easy one. What is the creature that is trying to kill me?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?!"

"I don't know what it's called. And it isn't trying to kill you. It just wants to get you."  
"Well thank goodness for that - I'm glad we've cleared that up." I said sarcastically. He didn't get it.

"Oh right. That's good."

"Why does it want me?"

"Because you're special."

"Why?"

He looked away from me and focused on the door.

"Yesterday you asked me why I was crying. Do you still want to know?"

"Yes. It's the least you could do after kidnapping me."

He looked sharply at my eyes.

"I had some friends. They were called Amy and Rory. I've lost them. It's been a few months now, but last week the TARDIS dropped me off in your town. And seeing you, it reminded me of them. I miss them. And when I found out who you were -"

"Who am I?!"

"Never mind. I've answered your question, now you need to answer mine. It's important."

"Okay."

"Who are your parents? And why didn't you speak for 5 years?"

"I don't know who my parents are. I was a doorstep baby, left outside my Mum and Dad's house."

"But they're not your real parents."

"Not my biological ones no. But they raised me, and love me, and that's good enough for me. My biological parents obviously didn't care about me enough." I said with a snarl.

"Maybe they wanted to keep you but couldn't?"

"Whatever. They didn't want me."

He looked angry.  
"And why were you a mute for 5 years?"

I was silent for a moment before answering,  
"I don't know."

He looked confused.

"Why? What happened to you? Mutism is mostly caused by a traumatic event. I know it might be hard to tell me, but I need to know."

I choked on my next words.

"_I don't remember. A year of my life is missing from my memory._"


	5. Day Three, Four, Five and Six

I slept better that night than I had in a very long time - which is odd, considering the stressful couple of days I'd had. There was just something so calming about the low hum that resonated throughout the TARDIS.

For the first few hours I lay awake, trying to come to terms with the fact I might never see my family again. I'm still not too sure why either. All I know is that this creature is chasing me of all people, and if I go back home it will kill my family to get to me.

You know, come to think of it, I have no idea why I trusted the Doctor. A man I barely knew, a stranger, tells me I can never see my family again and I just run off with him? What on Earth (or if what the Doctor says is true, on Gallifrey) was I thinking?! I must be mentally deficient!  
I kept thinking the same things - what was I thinking? I don't know this man! He could be a murderer!  
But some part of my subconscious wouldn't let me go home. Maybe it was that not many murderers have a time machine (of which I still had no proof was real), but I really didn't know.

Apart from the fact that I was in a bigger-on-the-inside blue box in the woods, the next couple of days were just like my normal ones; I spent all day reading in the massive library (which had a bubbling pink swimming pool in the centre) and spent the evenings sitting in my room. Thinking.

I had been doing this for 3 days when suddenly the whole room started shaking, books falling to the floor and water spilling over the edge of the pool. I got out of my armchair (which, I am sad to say had my backside imprinted in it. ) and walked out of the library, winding through the rumbling corridors until I reached the central room, where the Doctor was lounging on a sofa, reading an upside down knitting guide, seemingly oblivious to the shaking room.  
He looked up at me and grinned broadly.  
"Ahh! Aislinn! You have decided to join me? I have missed your conversational input. How's the library been?"

I steadied myself on the green and gold control panel that had various lights and buttons flashing.

"Fine - Why is the world collapsing around us?"  
His eyes sparkled as he said,

"I thought you might need a little adventure! I'm taking you to one of my favourite places."

And suddenly, the room stopped shaking. I rebalanced myself.

"What - Earthquake land?"

"No! That was just the TARDIS taking us to our destination. It doesn't have stabilizers you see."

I frowned and pointed to a small blue button.

"What about that one?"

He got up and peered at me, examining my eyes.

"What would make you think that?"  
I shrugged.

"I don't know - you just said stabilizers and I thought 'that one'. Something wrong?"  
He stepped back and the joyful look was on his face again.

"Nope! Nothing! Now would you like to take a look outside?"

"What? At the woods?"

He walked over to the doors and opened one of them.

"Nope! At a new world."  
I stepped out and took in my surroudings. I gasped and jumped back into the Doctor, almost knocking him over.

"We've moved! And we're not on Earth!"

"I told you I have a time machine."

"Please accept my apology when I say I didn't believe you; you are quite...eccentric..."

He grinned at me.

"It has been said... And we are on Earth. 51st century - one of my favourites."

I slowly walked a few feet in front of the TARDIS and looked around at the vast city in front of me. Once you looked past the flying objects and luminous lights, it did just look like a normal city.  
In the middle of the ocean, mind.

I turned back to the Doctor.

"What are we doing here?"

He came to join me and linked his arm with mine.

"We're going to a book reading."

"A book reading?! We come all the way to 3000 years in the future and you're taking me to a book reading? We could have done that in the 21st century you know."

We started to walk towards the bridge that connected the small island we were on with the giant cityscape one across from our parking spot.

We wound through the brightly lit streets, and I stopped every 5 seconds to gape and every alien, every building, every car that flew over my head. I was looking at a big blue creature when the Doctor yanked my arm.

"It's not rude to stare! Come on, we'll be late."

"I wasn't staring!"

"You look like a fish with your mouth open like that."

I quickly closed it, harrumphed and then carried on walking.

"And so what if I do look like a fish? I'm sure that man over there wouldn't be too happy to hear you insulting his looks."

The Doctor turned to face where I was pointing, at an alien across the street with a rather fish-shaped head. He turned back to me with a smug look.

"That's a girl. Now stop nattering or we will actually be late. We can do the great tour of the future lately."

He picked up the pace and I had to jog to keep up with him.

"Fine! How long till we get there though? My legs are getting tired."

"Not too long now. Five minutes?"

He kept looking at his wristwatch as if he was late for something extremely important, other than this book reading we were heading to. Which I really doubted was a life or death attendance thing...

"Got to rush somewhere?"

He looked over at me, and pulled on his collar, in discomfort.

"Oh! No! Course not! Why would I?" He looked at his watch again. "Ahh here we are! The Library!"

I glanced up at a tall building that was signposted 'Public Library'. We walked in, and the Doctor dragged me down a corridor into a big conference hall where about 200 people (well, creatures) were seated, listening to a man reading. The Doctor got us two seats near the back.

I whispered jokily in his ear.

"I'm surprised they still have libraries in the 51st century - I'd have thought everyone would have virtual brain chips that play the books like films inside your own mind."

The Doctor replied, completely seriously, and only half paying attention to me.

"No. They didn't invent those till the 54th." He faced me. "You'd be surprised. People never really stop loving books. 51st century. By now you've got holovids, direct to brain audio downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Ash. Deep breath."

I shot him a quizzical look.

"Those don't sound like your own words. You sound like you're quoting someone."

He got that glassy, not really here look again.

"A good man said them. A different man. Different face."

I decided to drop the topic and focus on the so-called Professor Lawrence who we had come to hear speak. He was an archaeologist Professor at the Luna University, and hearing him tell the story of the Earth's past (and my Earth's future) was fascinating. So fascinating that I didn't notice the Doctor had disappeared until almost an hour later. I ducked out of the lecture, not without earning a few looks of disapproval, and went looking for him.

He was sneaky, I'll give him that. I hadn't even heard him budge.  
At first I was angry - the Doctor had abandoned me in the middle of a strange city, 3000 years into my future, without even a map! But then in my anger I decided I didn't care what the Doctor did. I was going to have some fun, and if he didn't agree with it then he shouldn't have wandered off.  
I decided to look myself up in the Library database. 3000 years in my future - surely I'd find something interesting? See what I accomplished in life, whether I was famous, or even if I was still alive by some miracle! I could meet up with myself! Realistically I was expecting to find just a birth date and death date; I mean, why would I, boring, ordinary, silent Aislinn have accomplished anything in my life? The best thing I'd ever done was save a cat from a tree, which then proceeded to bite me.  
I would saw I was shocked by what I discovered, but I would be lying. I was more confused than anything.


End file.
